Entertainment

How to practice like a 'Counter-Strike' pro

Playing esports for a living is more than a full-time job. Take out the constant traveling back and forth across the Atlantic Ocean and top Counter-Strike players are still clocking in 40 or more hours a week.

When teams aren't at tournaments, they're playing with each other five days a week, honing their skills and going over strategies. One of the top Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams, FlipSid3 Tactics, has practices from Sunday to Thursday starting around 3 p.m., so it's not your typical 9 to 5 job.

"For one or two hours we're just talking about strats," FlipeSid3's Yegor "Markeloff" Markelov said. "And then we have like six practice scrimmages a day."

Scrimmages can last anywhere from 15 to 90 minutes. If teams are evenly matched, that's a lot of hours going into CS every day.

"On our days off I try to play at least two or three hours," Markeloff said. But it could be more if he's not feeling great about how he played during practices.

For some teams, coaches are around to monitor how they're playing and offer advice. While not every team watches their upcoming opponents' games to look for tips, coaches almost always will, and knowing how to play against a specific team can be pretty helpful.

"On our days off I try to play at least two or three hours"

And then there are bootcamps. Before some of the biggest tournaments, teams will sometimes amp up their practice schedules, playing 12 or more hours a day for a week straight to make sure every part of their play is up to snuff.

Teams are typically all in the same room during these bootcamps, which helps them get in the mindset for LAN tournaments. Many teams' players don't live close enough to each other to play in person together very often, so these camps are also good for team building.

During some tournaments, teams are able to play together in private practice rooms. Teams typically don't practice right before a match starts, though. Renegades' Yaman "Yam" Ergenekon said the team likes to relax before games.

Though if you really want to go pro in CS:GO, you should be practicing nearly 24/7.

ELeague is owned by Turner Broadcasting, which also is an investor in Mashable.

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